


A Soul for a Soul, a Life for a Life

by najak3



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, M/M, Not A Fix-It, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 15:08:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18853546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/najak3/pseuds/najak3
Summary: Steve saved Vormir for last. He wasn’t sure if he could pull this off, but if he did...well, he’d need to have all his affairs taken care of before hand.  Now, standing here with the keeper of the Soul Stone hovering like his own personal ghost, he was prepared.“I’m here to trade. The Soul Stone for Natasha. A soul for a soul!”“You have nothing you can trade. The Soul Stone will always return to it’s cradle, it never needed your help to get here.”“Then I’ll trade my life. Mine for hers. A life for a life!”





	A Soul for a Soul, a Life for a Life

Steve saved Vormir for last. He wasn’t sure if he could pull this off, but if he did...well, he’d need to have all his affairs taken care of before hand.  Now, standing here with the keeper of the Soul Stone hovering like his own personal ghost, he was prepared. 

 

“I’m here to trade. The Soul Stone for Natasha. A soul for a soul!”

 

“You have nothing you can trade. The Soul Stone will always return to it’s cradle, it never needed your help to get here.”

 

“Then I’ll trade my life. Mine for hers. A life for a life!”

 

“The exchange can only be made for the life which you hold most dear. Do you really think  _ your  _ life could possibly qualify?”

 

“That’s my bargain. The Soul Stone and my own life, for hers. Take it, or I’ll take this stone back to Morag, where I know there’s something that can destroy it.”

 

There was a moment, when Steve was sure the gamble  wouldn’t work. Then the sky pulsed, a deepening orange glow, and finally Schmidt nodded. 

 

“Very well. The Stone has accepted your bargain. The Soul Stone and your life, that which you most hold dear, in exchange for the life of the last sacrifice.”

 

Steve had thought he would have to jump, the way Clint had said Nat had jumped, but instead, the ground around him exploded in a pillar of brilliant orange light. He woke, gasping, in a shallow lake, inexplicably alive. Someone else was there with him, gasping and thrashing. 

 

“No! Clint!”

 

His heart swelled to bursting. It had worked! Somehow, someway, his gamble had paid off. 

 

“Natasha, Natasha, its ok! Clints ok, hey, it’s me!”

 

“Steve? What? How are you here? What happened? Wheres Clint? Where’s the Soul Stone?”

 

“Its ok, Clints back on earth. We did it Nat! We got the Stones, we brought everyone back! I was just...putting the Stones back where they came from. And I found you.”

 

He had gotten her back. Against all odds, it had worked. He drew her, still spluttering, into a fierce embrace. Explanations could wait. 

  
  
  


\----------------------------

 

“ _ One _ !”

 

They hit the landing pad hard, and Steve couldn’t help but grin at the shocked silence that followed in their wake. Nat broke it, with her typical wry wit. 

 

“Sorry I’m a little late boys. Guess I missed all the fun.”

 

“Natasha!” 

 

Bruce was closest, and so reached her first, enveloping her in en enormous, and very careful, hug. Sam was close behind, joining in the tearful reunion. Steve only had eyes for one person though, who was looking at him with joyful disbelief. 

 

Steve couldn’t hold back. He swept his best friend into the longest, hardest hug of his life, and didn’t mind when he felt the dampness on his neck. His own tears were getting in Bucky’s hair, so really it was only fair. 

 

“You came back. I...I thought...a life for a life, right?”

 

“I thought so too, but I had to try, Bucky, I’m sorry, but I had to try. And it worked, she’s back, and I’m back, and it’s ok now Buck, its ok!”

 

Bucky pulled back just a little, sniffing discreetly, clearing his throat. 

 

“So, uh. Now what?”

 

“Well, Tony was always telling me I needed to get a life, so I thought..why not do that?”

 

Bucky’s face shuttered, going blank as he stepped away from him. Steve felt his heart break.

 

“Right...so, you’ll be leaving again soon, then.”

 

“What? Why? What would I be leaving for?”

 

“I mean, you’ve got a time machine Steve, you can’t just leave Peggy hanging like that, not now that you can go back to her.”

 

“Aw, Bucky,” Steve felt his relief wash over him with his dawning understanding, “that was the first thing I did.”

 

“What?”

 

“My first stop. I went back to ‘46. Found her at a friend’s place. We had a dance, got some closure. But she understood Buck, she knew I couldn’t stay there.”

 

“What? Why not?”

 

“Bucky...when I said I wanted to get a life, I didn’t mean my old life. I wanted a new one. One with...well...with you. I mean, if you want--”

 

And then Bucky was kissing him, and everything else fell away. 

 

\----------------------------------

 

Everything went very fast after that. There was still so much to do. Natasha and Clint had their own tearful reunion, and they had to catch Nat up with everything that happened after they’d gotten back with the Infinity Stones.  Then there was everything else. 

 

Half the Universe’s population disappearing had been a major crisis, but it turned out having it suddenly double was just as much work. It was good work, though. And everything was better with Bucky there beside him. 

 

Steve had had grand plans of retiring as Captain America, Sam would have made a great Captain America, but then it turned out the world still needed his help. He didn’t mind. Natasha reformed the Avengers, but Steve and Bucky didn’t join, working instead with the ongoing relief efforts. For once, the symbol of Captain America was being associated with real, clean work, as hope for the whole world, so Steve didn’t mind keeping the mantle a while longer. Pepper even sent over a new shield. Apparently Tony’s garage was filled with a bunch of prototypes. Steve never forgot or stopped missing his comrade in arms, and treasured the gifts he was still sharing with the world, even now. 

 

Months turned to years, and it turned out that there was never really an end to the need for relief efforts. With T’Challa’s help they were able to coordinate a new team, one that didn’t avenge, but provided relief. There were still battles and villains to be fought, but Natasha, and then Peter, and then Morgan led the Avengers to keep those under control. Steve and Bucky fought on a different, ever changing battleground with an ever changing team, always and forever together. 

 

It was a good life. A long life. They watched their family and friends grow old, and retire, and then watched their children grow up, and grow old, and retire, and they started to give thought to doing the same. The serum had kept them young and spry for many decades, but even Steve was beginning to slow down. Wrinkles were forming, and hair was turning white. When the time came they decided together it was time to pass the Shield.

  
  
  


“Kiyoshi will be an excellent Captain America, I think.”

 

“Of course he will, but It’s ‘Commander A’, now. Don’t forget or you’ll call him the wrong thing at the ceremony tomorrow.”

 

“Oh right, Commander A. Not sure I’ll get used to that. He’ll be an excellent  _ Commander A _ . He is a little tardy, though.”

 

“Oh, I’m sure he’s just getting into the same kind of trouble you did, back in the day. Wouldn’t be a good Captain America if he didn’t.”

 

“Now who’s forgetting! I’m sure you’re right though. A little trouble never hurt anyone, after all.”

 

“Oh, speak for yourself you big lug! I’m the one who had to pull you out of it all the time!”

 

Steve couldn’t help but laugh.  _ Some  _ things didn’t change, Bucky’s mother-henning was just one example They were sitting at the edge of the lake, the same lake from so long ago. The shield was in its carrying case next to them, leaning against their bench, waiting for Captain Kiyoshi Morales to come and claim his new title. It had been a long time coming. Steve admired the sunset over the lake, the sky turning vibrant yellow and orange and red. He turned back to Bucky to admire him, too. Some things had changed since those years so long ago, but Steve thought Bucky was as beautiful as ever, wrinkles and all.

 

“I suppose this is the end of the line, eh?”

 

Bucky turned and caught him staring. He grinned back at Steve, winking. 

 

“Not even close sweetheart. End of Captain America maybe, but now we get to really enjoy our retirement.”

 

They leaned against one another, and took in the quiet moment, and the beautiful view.

 

“We’ve had a good run of it, haven’t we?”

 

“Only the very best. I love you, you punk. I wouldn’t have changed a thing”

 

“Love you too, jerk.”

 

The sun was low now, and as it touched the water it painted the lake and the sky all a brilliant, beautiful, fiery orange. 

 

_ A Life for a Life _

 

Steve blinked. 

 

“Did you hear that?”

 

But Bucky wasn’t next to him anymore. The shield was there, but no Bucky. The sunset was gone too. Instead the sun was high in the sky, a clear, blue sky. That wasn’t right. The lake was blue. The sun was high. The longer he looked, the less he could remember why that was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

 

There seemed to be a commotion going on behind him. 

 

_ “Well, get him back!” _

 

_ “Sam! Look. _ ”

 

That couldn’t be right. Sam had died in his sleep, a couple years back, surrounded by his children and grandchildren. But no, he was young and healthy last time Steve had seen him. When had Steve last seen him? Five years, five months, five seconds?

 

“ _ Did something go wrong, or did something go right? _ ”

 

Steve wasn’t sure. It had felt so right, it had felt like the most perfect life a man could ask for. Why did it now seem like it had gone very very wrong? What was missing? Was something missing?

 

_ “Well...after I put the stones back, I thought I’d get some of that life that Tony was always telling me to get. _ ”

 

He had danced with Peggy. He remembered that for sure. He had gotten married to the love of his life. Who had that been, again? They had decided to retire. Wait, no... _ he _ had decided to retire. He had decided he wasn’t coming back... from...Vormir? He was meant to be giving the shield away, he knew that. He  _ knew  _ that. Sam would be a perfect Commander A. No... no, he would be a perfect Captain America. That was right, wasn’t it? Wasn’t it?

 

“ _ It was beautiful. _ ”

 

A beautiful life. A beautiful love.The love of his life. A life of his love. The life he had held most dear. 

 

A life for a life. 

 

It slipped away, and was gone. 

**Author's Note:**

> um...sorry? another endgame ficlet that wouldn't leave me be. 
> 
> Beta'd by winterofthedarkestlight


End file.
